page_title: Mooney International Corporation
section_title: 1970s
hierarchical_section_title: Mooney International Corporation / History / 1970s
caption_attribution_description: Mooney M20J ZS-KXA
context_page_description: The Mooney International Corporation is a Chinese-owned aircraft manufacturer based in Kerrville, Texas, United States. It manufactures single-engined piston-powered general aviation aircraft. Mooney International has been owned by the Chinese private equity, real-estate development company, the Meijing Group, since 2013.
  Among Mooney's achievements are; the first pressurized single-engined, piston-powered aircraft, the M22 Mustang, production of the fastest civilian single-engine piston-powered aircraft in the world, the M20TN Acclaim Type S, the first production aircraft to achieve 201 mph on 200 hp, the M20J 201 and the fastest transcontinental flight in a single-engine piston-powered production aircraft, the M20K 231.
  Many Mooney aircraft have the signature vertical stabilizer with its vertical leading edge and swept trailing edge that gives the illusion of being forward-swept.
context_section_description: Butler Aviation closed the Mooney plant in early 1971 and it remained closed for more than two years. In October 1973, Republic Steel Corporation acquired company and resumed production in 1974. Robert Cumming, a general manager at Republic Steel, had owned a Mooney M20F Executive for years and flew it frequently, and wished to put the Mooney M20 back into production. This began in January 1974 with the reintroduction of the M20F Executive. The company continued aggressive product development, working on another pressurized single to compete with the Cessna 210, a turboprop designated the "301". Roy LoPresti, formerly of Grumman Aerospace where he had worked on aircraft design and the Apollo Lunar Module, was hired as chief of research and development to update the M20. The result was the M20J 201, so named because it was capable of 201 miles per hour (323 km/h) with its 200 horsepower (150 kW) engine. In a 1979 interview, LoPresti noted that Mooney did not have the resources to develop radical new composite construction aircraft as did other manufacturers, and would focus on evolutionary development of conventional aircraft.
  The 201 was a big seller, and a turbocharged version was developed later that year. The next year, 1977, three models were offered: the M20C Ranger, the M20F Executive, and the M20J 201. By 1979 the M20C had been dropped, ending production of the short-body M20. The same year, the company's first turbocharged M20 was released: the M20K 231, so designated because its top speed was 231 miles per hour (372 km/h). It was based on the earlier 201 with further improvements. This year a total of 439 airplanes were delivered — fewer than the top years of the 1960s, but these deliveries resulted in healthy profits. From this point through 1986, the M20J and the turbocharged M20K were the only two models offered.
caption: A Mooney M20J
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